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Senate amendment would eliminate Amtrak food and beverage service
The Senator is aptly named.
I do not think our Congress is acting in good faith. This is a ridiculous amendment!
What does this say about the people who elected this nut ?
SOUNDS LIKE AMTRAK IS DOING TOO GOOD AT ATTRACTING NEW CUSTOMERS!
Oh no. I won’t get Jimmy Dean Breakfast Sandwhiches in the Cafe car. Relax folks. It won’t get too far.
Politicians and diapers need to be changed for the same reason. I says so on both sides of my van.
Let’s go back to vending machines like the old Southern Pacific. Of course, Amtrak could also go to someone like Spirit Airlines for advice on how to add extra fees (like laptop plug in fees, for example). One of the joys of taking the train is that it usually is less hassle. So let’s ruin that, too.
IDK if this will get far, but don’t forget the Hiawatha doesn’t have a food cart anymore
IDK if this will get far, but don’t forget the Hiawatha doesn’t have a food cart anymore
These guys in D.C. are getting to me…they can’t run a government so what makes them think they can run a railroad? They can’t even run a kid’s lemonade stand on a treeless street on a 100+ degree day in summer!
Government subsidizing the food served on Amtrak? All the proof needed to show how Amtrak is the welfare transportaton system. Airlines don’t get their food subsidized. Last time I checked, the bus companies stop at the most convenient truck stop and require the passengers to buy their own if they didn’t brown bag it. The bill doesn’t sound so bad. After all, what is so bad about requiring Amtrak passengers to pay the full cost of the food they choose to consume? And if they don’t want to pay that cost, like the bus passenger, they can brown bag it. Or bring a cooler if it is a multi-day trip. Or here is an idea. Go back to before the dining car. Stop at the designated station and a roach coach can come around like the roach coaches do at some warehouses with truck drivers waiting to get loaded. Amtrak railfans need to learn how to think outside of their little box they put themselves in. Get more creative with free market economic solutions that work instead of blaming others all the time for the problems of a train based on socialist credentials.
To me this is goes beyond the constitutional budget submission, appropriation, authorization, and oversight processes. I can understand Congress scrutinizing personnel salaries and benefits. They do that with the rest of the Federal Government. However, Amtrak is organized like a private corporation with a board of directors to oversee the operation of the railroad. It should be allowed to let its managers manage. Is it any wonder with this micromanagement, Amtrak is in turmoil?
We as advocates have had over 40 years to get the message out. I don’t know who to be madder at: Idiot politicians or the National Association of Railroad Passengers?
They clean the toilets? Judging by the smell of my last trip to LA from Seattle, it would appear they don’t empty the toilet waste tanks. The Senate is trying to kill Amtrak. Wonder how much BNSF, UP, NS, CN, CP, and CSX donate to your local member of Congress (and which party they donate to?)
Why can’t they just throw in vending machines instead. It would be nice to have sandwiches as some of the options.
I hope some senators read Trains!
Typical Congress BS! They can’t manage to pass anything of real benefit to the country so instead they focus on penny pinching with Amtrak while they get salary increases and benefits for basically doing nothing! It’s a shame we can’t vote to replace all of them at once with new members that aren’t so politically and ‘pork’ entrenched.
Next they should cut “subsidies” for ticket collecting, toilet cleaning, and passenger carrying.
Jeff Flake’s name is sure appropriate.